


The Witch's Ghost: One Year Later

by eliz1325



Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 11:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15266736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliz1325/pseuds/eliz1325
Summary: A year after the event of Autumnfest at Oakhaven, the gang decides it would be a good idea for them to go back and see the fall color without what went wrong last year. However, they meet a relative of Ben's, who Velma begins to suspect as she begins to fall prey to nightmares that grow more intense with each passing night. Are her suspicions in Ben's sister justified, or is Velma simply paranoid and not sleeping enough? Rated T, there are warnings every chapter just in case. I'm paranoid. Cross posted on fanfiction.net.





	1. Not the Best Morning

 

_**Before we begin, I'd just like to note that there's a tiny bit of body horror in this, but nothing too bad at all. The warning's only here cause I'm paranoid.** _

Everything Velma saw was green. Not like it was tinted green, but wherever her eyes darted, she saw the same thing, the same now unappealing shade of lime, and nothing else.

Slowly, it faded and she was able to make some sense of her surroundings. She was bound with heavy rope and staring down someone she didn't recognize.

The person in front of her couldn't have been older than 20. Long black hair fluttered in front of her face, obscuring her facial features from view.

Velma found she was able to reach out with a hand, despite being bound, and try to swipe the hair away from her face.

When she took a good look, she gasped. Her... His? face... was the face of a past enemy. It was Ben Ravencroft. The person chuckled, then laughed with his laugh as one hand extended, then shot a bolt of some kind of magic at her.

Velma shot awake and inhaled sharply. She propped herself up on her elbows and glared blearily at the window. It wasn't quite daybreak yet, but the color of the sky and the lack of stars signaled dawn was approaching. Well, not like she could make out any stars, but she knew there weren't any out either way.

She checked the clock by her bed. After a minute, she could make out the blurry numbers. It was 5:58. With a huff, she flopped back down on her pillow, unsure if she'd be able to sleep again.

Why had she had that dream? Why was it focused on an event that happened nearly a year ago? Was it because of the timing or sheer coincidence? And who was that girl, or, who had she been before she had his face?

_Maybe I haven't seen her face before_ , Velma reasoned with herself, _and_ _my_ _mind_ _couldn't_ _come_ _up_ _with_ _one_ _I've_ _seen_ _before_ _that_ _would fit better_.

After all, no one can see faces in dreams if they haven't seen them in real life.

She sighed again, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes. Of course, when she thought she was over this, she dreamed about him again. Was it a dream or a nightmare? It wasn't intense but it had started her heart racing and she felt uncomfortable with it.

After a few more minutes of staring at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to find her, she resolved she just wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night.

_Whatever_ , _people_ _get_ _up_ _at_ _six_ _in_ _the_ _morning_.

Velma sat up and fumbled for her glasses, then set them on her face. Yawning, she stretched her legs before standing up and stretching her arms and back.

She forgot when the rest of them usually woke up in the morning, so she got on her laptop and started letting herself fall down a rabbit hole of internet browsing. She looked up articles about unsolved mysteries in their area anything they could go investigate. She found nothing.

_That_ _sucks_ , she mused to herself as she opened a blank tab and closed the rest. She sat, wondering what to do to pass the time, then closed her laptop. Nothing in particular seemed interesting to her.

She sat back and closed her eyes, thinking about the events that had unfolded nearly a year ago.

How he'd gotten close and used her to find his ancestor's spellbook in a greedy quest for power.

How he'd set her free but how she was returned quickly. How he'd died.

She could still hear his last scream in her ears.

It had taken her a while to process everything. She couldn't even acknowledge that he was dead, _he_ _wa_ _s_ _really_ _actually_ _dead_ , until a day later. The knowledge that he'd used her, lied to her, came a while after.

She'd blamed herself for a while. How could she have let that happen? She should have known better than to trust that quickly. Why didn't she try to do more when she could have?

She remembered how she stood there, screaming at him, when she could have tried to grab the book. She stood there as Sarah pulled him in, she could have at least tried to grab his hand and save him.

_She_ _could_ _have_ _done_ _more_.

_Could_ _I_ _have_? Velma asked herself, opening her eyes.

Tears threatened to start pooling in her eyes but she started blinking rapidly to keep them away. It was too early to get this emotional.

_This_ _is_ _in_ _the_ _past_ , she reminded herself. _I_ _can't_ _change_ _what_ _happened_. _There's_ _no_ _use_ _in_ _beating_ _myself_ _up_ _over_ _any_ _of_ _it_.

She exhaled deeply and inhaled again. _Let's_ _try_ _to_ _have_ _a_ _better_ _day_ , she thought to herself as she stood up and went to make coffee, to really wake up and do something with her day.

As she went to the counter to get the filters, a somewhat disturbing thought crossed her mind.

_I_ _won't_ _have_ _this_ _dream_ _again_.. _Will_ _I_?

_**This story is definitely not over yet. Later the nightmares will become more graphic, so please be careful. I'm just trying to make sure I don't like... scare someone. There will be warnings at the top of each chapter but hopefully this story won't be too bad! (I'm always paranoid)** _

_**As always, Scooby Doo does not belong to me, nor do any of the characters except my own, just this once.** _


	2. The Nightmares Continue

_**Warning for some blood, but once again, it's not really that bad.** _

That night, Velma found she was somewhat correct. She didn't have that dream again, she had one more disturbing than before.

_She was alone on a smoothly paved road. There were no sidewalks beside it, only tall trees, reaching with slender limbs toward the moon, which hung high in the sky._

She tried not to think about it too much as she stirred her coffee. At least this morning she woke up at a reasonable hour. She was still somewhat bleary, however, not having gotten the best sleep the past two nights.

_"Velma..." a hushed voice danced under the trees with the wind, blowing all around her, pushing her hair in her face._

She shivered lightly under her sweater and wrapped her hands around the mug of coffee. Now really was not the time to think about it.

_"Who's there?" She asked boldly, looking around for any signs of the person speaking. Nervousness pricked at her stomach but she pushed it aside._

..Yet, she couldn't seem to stop thinking about it. She noticed Fred and Daphne's concerned glances thrown her way and smiled to tell them she was okay. Neither seemed entirely convinced but said nothing.

_"You know very well who's there," the voice responded, growing louder. She recognized the slight accent and turned to look at him, but couldn't find him._

"Hm, the trees are really turning," Fred remarked. "Despite what happened, Oakhaven really was beautiful last year." Daphne hummed in agreement.

_"Where are you? How are you here, you're dead!" She found herself turning more frantically, trying to find the source so she could run._

"I was actually wondering if... Maybe we should go back to visit this year." Everyone gave him the same look, the look that meant _are you crazy?!_ "Think about it. No ghosts, fake or real.. hopefully. No Ben. Just us and the fall color."

_"I'm all around you, Velma. I never left this world." The voice seemed to grow louder in her ears. "In the air, on the ground, inside of the mist..."_

"I don't know if that's the best idea, Fred," Velma said as her fingers curled more tightly around the mug. "It doesn't sound entirely appealing to me, at least, and I hope my reasons are both obvious and justified." She didn't feel like bringing her dreams up to them yet.

_Fog began to roll in from one side of the street. It couldn't have been normal, it was too bright, too.. bluish. It had to have been him. She started to walk away from the fog but found it on the other side of the street, too._

"Right.. but after all of that I think it might be good for all of us, but you in particular." Velma gave him a funny look.

_"Leave me alone!" She screamed as the fog neared her, then swirled around her. She caught the scent of something as it closed in around her. The smell of blood, she realized._

"Why me?" Fred looked as though he'd possibly said something wrong and was considering what he could say right instead.

_"How could I leave you alone?" The fog closed around her, covering her and slowly increasing in density. Her glasses started catching the mist on her lenses, rendering them pretty much useless. The scent of blood was growing thicker and stronger, making her feel nauseated._

"Well... You know, after everything that happened. I feel like he tried to get close to you especially and it isn't easy, feeling like you've taken it personally. It was just a thought, about going to Oakhaven, but think about what I said?"

_The fog darkened suddenly, and became so thick and dry it wasn't fog anymore, it had become smoke. She looked around frantically, unable to see even a few inches in front of her. She began to have difficulty breathing. She got down on her knees, trying to crawl in any direction and see or breathe more easily, but it proved futile._

Velma went silent and looked down at her coffee mug.

_"How can I leave you alone when my blood is on your hands?" Something about his tone made it seem too literal. She disbelievingly looked at her hands, then gaped at the sight of the thick crimson on them and dripping off her fingertips, then it ran down her arms and started to stain her sweater._

"..You know what?" Velma started to ask. Fred looked at her, crossing his arms.

_She heard footsteps approaching and lowered her hands, looking toward them, her breath catching on her lips. She heard the sound of a fire crackling slowly grow nearer to her. He stopped right in front of her. She looked at his face, which was contorted into an evil leer._

"What?"

_"Burn with me, Velma!" Ben yelled as the fire she'd heard raced around her, closing them both in a circle that continuously grew smaller. The smoke grew thicker and hotter._

"You're right. And why should he ruin this for me? Why can't I still go see the fall color at Oakhaven? Sure, I'd like to go." She made a vow to herself that if these dreams weren't random, they would end and she'd be the one to put a stop to them. She knew the answer would lay in Oakhaven if there was an answer, somewhere she could put all of this to rest.

_She found herself nearly completely unable to breathe except to choke out a strangled, "Help me!!"_

Fred looked surprised by her sudden change of heart. "Are you.. are you sure?"

_As soon as the fire reached her, she woke up with her face half-buried into her pillow. She raised her head and gratefully breathed in air that seemed so wonderful to inhale._

"Like, yeah, Velma. Are you really sure?" Shaggy asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm really sure. Like I said, though, you do have a point, Fred."

"I'm.. I'm glad to hear it!" He smiled.

"It'll be so much fun this year now that we don't really have to worry about warlocks and the witch's ghost," Daphne remarked.

"Reah!" Scooby exclaimed, tail wagging.

"And then if they do have the witch's ghost, at least we'll know if the town is doing it based on how hokey it looks." Velma laughed a little at Fred's remark.

"And, like, maybe we won't ruin it for the town this year."

"As long as they're not throwing fire," Velma pointed out.

"Rue. Rhat ras rangerous rast rear."

"Well, we're planning for variables that may not even exist at this point, so let's ease up on it," Daphne reminded them jokingly. They all laughed.

"Sorry, Daph," Fred said a bit sheepishly, "guess we're still in that mystery solving mindset."

"Like, let's hope there's nothing that follows us there."

"Knowing us? Jinkies, I'd be surprised if that happened." All five laughed again, Velma a little less heartily than the others.

_I hope this is only a coincidence,_ she thought.

_But if it isn't..._

_**Hi again! Chapter updates are gonna be pretty sporadic but I'm trying to get some out before I lose interest (I'll try not to, though.). Sorry about the short chapter length, I'm trying to do better on that. I'm sure they'll get longer, though.** _


End file.
